Hacking Habits

When I was a child, my mother instructed me to take vitamins. Each morning before leaving for school, she would hand me my daily flintstones chewable. But now that I’m a full grown adult, she can’t tell me what to do! Mountain Dew and Starcraft all night! XD

But seriously, back on topic…

Since moving out of my parent’s house long ago, this healthful routine has fallen out of habit without my mother’s reenforcement. Sometimes it takes self-control to do the things we know we should do. But not always. Ideally we form habits, negating the need for self-control.

Months ago I purchased a jar of multi-vitamins and placed it in my cupboard.

It sat there. Unused. Lonely.

I’m a responsible adult. I knew I should take my vitamins but had a hard time doing so regularly.

So I made one small change. I took the jar out of the cupboard and placed it on the countertop. Since then I haven’t missed a day without taking my vitamins.

The now visible jar of vitamins serve as an unavoidable reminder, a trigger to take my vitamins. Removing them from the cupboard also made it easier, increasing my ability to do so. Sometimes the tiniest friction can make the difference between action vs. inaction.

BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model describes this best:

“…three elements must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur: Motivation, Ability, and Trigger.”

By simply increasing my ability and creating a trigger, I’ve been able to reinstate this habit. Sometimes it doesn’t take much to change behavior.

• Buffer’s Leo Widrich recommends setting gym on top of the alarm clock to encourage morning exercise.
• Google increased water consumption by 47% by simply rearranging the fridge. More Googlers chose bottled water once it was made more easily visible and reachable at eye-level than the unhealthy soda at the bottom.
• Leo Babauta, blogger at zenhabits, instructs floss-challenged people to start flossing with just one tooth per night. This may seem ridiculous but starting very small habits makes formation of larger behavior change gradually easier.

What changes would you like to make in your life?

Want to eat healthier? Pre-prepare individual meals and place them toward the front of your fridge for maximum visibility and accessibility.

Having trouble focusing at work? Remove notifications (i.e., triggers that kill productivity) and access to non-essential applications (i.e., ability to get distracted).[1]

Want to blog more? Make an effort to write the first thing that comes to mind each morning as you prepare morning coffee. As soon as the kettle sounds, stop and move on with your day.

Product designers: Simple changes can have a significant impact on your everyday behavior but also the success of the products you build. Consider how these concepts can apply to your product.

Reflect on your daily behavior. Which are destructive? What changes would you like to make?

Consider how these simple concepts be used to change your daily habits and improve your life.

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[1] Here’s an excellent list of tools for managing digital distractions by Information Diet.

Thanks to John Muldoon and Jason Shen for reading early versions of this draft.